So Long, Joey!
John Mackenzie
The departure of superintendent Joseph Wise from the Christina School District has triggered some public concern for the future of the district. It is important for the entire Christina community to understand what lies ahead as we hire another superintendent to carry on the district’s reform agenda. Christina has undertaken some major reforms in the last two and a half years, and the school board is committed to keeping those reforms solidly on track. We are not backing off one inch in our commitments to provide top-performing schools and support every kid in achieving the best. We will do everything in our power to maintain the pace of reform.
Several of us now serving on the Christina School Board were once outspoken critics of the old district, and we joined to board in order to turn our public schools around. We had a strong reform agenda before Dr. Wise came on board, and Dr. Wise embraced that agenda and laid it out in the Transformation Plan that we voted into policy in the fall of 2003. The Broad Foundation has provided us with training in reform governance, and we have further codified the reforms strategies as policy. These will streamline the process of recruiting superintendent candidates who fully understand and share our vision.
The job of superintendent in a large school district is extremely challenging, which is why the average tenure for large urban district school superintendents in the US today is only two years and eight months. Some get fired, some get lured away by other districts, but change is the norm. Dr. Wise has spent two years and four months here, uncovered a lot of problems and made a lot of improvements. He is moving to Florida to run the Duval County public school system, another Broad-adopted district six times larger than Christina. It’s mainly for the professional challenge and to be close to his family; the big increase in salary and huge pension benefits are additional enticements.
People may grouse that he didn’t “stay and finish the job here,” as if the job of building our children’s futures ever ends. It doesn’t. We hear a few cry-in-your-beer comments such as “I said two and a half years ago he was too good for us!” and “He was only using us to get a better job!” A recent News-Journal editorial suggested that Dr. Wise’s contract should have had a lock-in clause binding him to the district or requiring some salary give-back. But we’re a school district, not a professional sports franchise. Districts don’t collude in refusing to hire each others’ employees, and no self-respecting candidate for this superintendent’s job would agree to a lock-in clause. We wouldn’t have been surprised to see a News-Journal cartoon portraying us as jilted little Christina with her wilting bridal bouquet, stood up at the altar of reform by that cad, that bounder!
We are starting an expedited search for a new superintendent, and we want the best—someone who will help us win the Broad Prize for Urban Education, the largest education prize in the country awarded annually to the most outstanding school district. Yes, that’s our goal. Our reforms have already given us some national recognition, we know how to recruit top-quality candidates who understand and believe in our vision, and we are committed to involving the entire Christina community in the selection process. This transition is an opportune time to critique and fine-tune our strategies, and a new superintendent will certainly want to put his or her own stamp on the district, but the basic reforms strategy will remain the same.
It’s time to say goodbye, but we’re looking forward. Dr. Wise has done wonderful things for Christina, and we are grateful to him for energizing us and challenging us to be our best, and in parting we remain good friends. So good luck in Florida, Joey—do us proud! We’ll be watching you, we know you’ll be watching us, and we’ll see whose district wins the Broad Prize first!